Local rivalries are being stoked once again this month with our visit to Tottenham Hotspur. After Spurs escaped with the most unjust 1-0 victory in history in our first game of the season back in August, we’ll be looking to make amends. It’s never an easy game, so Blowing Bubbles have trawled the archives to find five of West Ham’s greatest victories at White Hart Lane.
Spurs 0 West Ham 3 – October 6, 2013
This was a wonderful afternoon to be a West Ham fan. Many will remember the unique 4-6-0 formation employed by Big Sam, and the fact that we were in the bottom three in the approach to this fixture – making the emphatic nature of the scoreline even more prominent. In fact, it was goalless at the break, and the riot only began after the hour mark, when Winston Reid scored from close range, before Ricardo Vaz Te doubled the lead a few minutes later.
However, the best was saved for last – with Ravel Morrison running the length of the Spurs half before chipping the goalkeeper to finish off one of the best results against Tottenham in modern times. We all thought this would be the catalyst for an extended run for Morrison in the side — he was a player reborn! Unfortunately, the team continued to struggle, Morrison continued to be plagued by negative headlines, and the bright future at West Ham vanished. He was released this month.
Spurs 1 West Ham 2 – December 18, 2013
Two much-maligned players, Matt Jarvis and Modibo Maiga, really did score for us on this special night, after Emmanual Adebayor netted the opener. Maiga very nearly scored another in injury time, a brilliant shot that came back off the crossbar.
Into the semi-final we went, full of optimism that we might finally end the hoodoo and win a cup that has eluded us so far in our history. Unfortunately, we were up against Manchester City — one performance of staggeringly poor competence in the first leg later, we were six down and the final remained a dream.
Spurs 1 West Ham 2 – April 24, 1999
You have to go back to the nineties to find the previous win at Tottenham. A feisty encounter saw Harry Redknapp’s high-flying side come out on top. Marc Keller and Ian Wright scored the goals, before Tottenham finally woke up and got one back.
In our attempts to hold on, John Moncur picked up a red card (some might say unsurprisingly), but we held on for an excellent win. We went on to end the season in fifth place, the highest we’ve ever finished in the Premier League era.
Spurs 1 West Ham 4 – April 4, 1994
Revenge was very much on the cards here for West Ham after a 3-1 defeat earlier in the year. Teddy Sheringham scored from the spot, but that was as good as it got for the home team. Trevor Morley scored twice, once from the penalty spot himself before Mike Marsh and substitute Steve Jones completed the rout.
Redknapp’s West Ham eventually ended the season in 13th place with 52 points – not a bad return at all, and especially satisfying as once again, we finished above Spurs in the table, who were two places and seven points back.
Spurs 0 West Ham 4 – September 2, 1981
Probably the best result at White Hart Lane that we’ve ever had, thanks to David “Psycho†Cross and his marvellous beard. This result is best put into context: Tottenham were the FA Cup winners that year, whilst we’d just been promoted back to Division One after three years away from the top flight. Surely the result would only go one way?
After 10 minutes, Cross put doubt in Spurs’ minds after getting on the end of a, erm, cross, and it was 1-0 at half-time. The second-half, however, was utter destruction. The second came after a period of Tottenham pressure, the third the most memorable – a fantastic move involving Geoff Pike and a Cross volley into the top corner – and a scramble for the fourth. This was all played out in front of the England manager of the time, Ray Clemence. We would go on to finish the season ninth, and Cross would score 20 goals.
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